Trails, Transportation and Transmission

Trails, Transportation and Transmission. . , During the Pleistocene Era (26,000-10,000 years ago), the broad valley, seen in all directions from where you are standing, was formed by Lake Bonneville. When the waters of the lake subsided, human beings moved from the shoreline at the edge of the mountain slopes onto the valley floor. For 10,000 years, people have used this valley floor for habitation, hunting, trails, and utility corridors. , Early peoples utilized the valley and surrounding mountains for the resources they needed to survive in this area. Trails were developed for obtaining water and for reaching ceremonial areas, habitation sites, and areas for gathering food, minerals, clay, plant materials, and rocks. In the 1700s the Spanish traveled through the valley bottom while transporting supplies, slaves, and horses to the missions in what is now Southern California. They used the existing trails already on the landscape., Beginning in the 1800s, immigrant wagon trains, heading to the gold fields and Spanish Missions of California traveled on these existing routes. One group, led by Jefferson Hunt and Captain Smith, broke apart just a few miles east of here. The group led by Hunt followed the existing road to the south (The California Overland Trail/Spanish Trail) and arrived three months earlier than Smith. The Smith group turned west and eventually found their way to a valley of death, identified by one of the survivors as "Death Valley" in central California. The trail, following the lower slopes and valley floor to the north and the south, has been identified as the Old Spanish National Historic Trail. , People still use this area for habitation, hunting, ranching, farming, and sight-seeing. These activities need electricity. To that end, the area at the edge of the valley to the east was identified as a corridor for transmission. lines and other utilities. Currently, there are five power lines and three large gas pipelines running through the corridor following the same routes that have been in place for 10,000 years.